University of Missouri.

Today as I walked through campus I decided I wanted to write a post that talked about what it’s like here at Mizzou. Whenever I was a senior in high school and I was still struggling with the decision of where I wanted to go to college, all I looked for was a blog or something to show me pictures of what it would be like there. Not just any pictures though, I wanted real life pictures, the ones taken by people who are actually living there and experiencing the college life on that campus.

I wanted to know that when I transitioned to college I would still be able to go to Starbucks or some other coffee shop to satisfy my caffeine obsession and stimulate my writing for blog posts like these. Luckily, I got what I wished for (if only you could see me now as I write to you - I am facing the Journalism School at the downtown Starbucks, just sipping my grande mocha). **Sidenote, I might have gone broke for this Mocha (at the steep price of $4.95), but Grandma Scheperle gave me a gift card for my birthday so all is well with my bank account (for now at least).

As you may have seen yesterday, I showed you some pictures of my dorm room in Autumn. (if you missed it, go check it out!). Today, however, I wanted to show you a couple of pictures from my favorite places around campus, as well as downtown Columbia. Keep in mind that I have only been here for a few months, so I feel like every time I venture out of my little bubble, I seem to come across new treasures around the city(:

My favorite part of campus is over by Memorial Union (white campus - all of the buildings are white from the limestone that they’re made of). Of course, I also love the Columns (on the quad/red campus – mostly red brick buildings), which is the signature University of Missouri symbol (if you ask me). I also love Ellis Library, inside it is all old and cool and there are soo many books. You could probably stay in there for days, there’s even a coffee shop(!).

Off campus, I really enjoy going to Starbucks (there’s one in Memorial Union, but there’s also one in Downtown, across from the J-School). My other favorites include Chipotle (duh), Kaldi’s Coffee, Lakota Coffee, and Sparky’s (freakin’ awesome ice cream – I always get Cake Batter #omg). All of these places are downtown and within a few minutes walk from my dorm. There’s even some super cool thrift stores/shops and a bookstore downtown.

Below I have featured pictures from campus that I have taken (both new and old) and even a picture of some of my roommates and I back from when we made a visit to campus while we were still in high school (we look so young…). Oh yeah, and I can't forget Shakespeare's and Pizza Tree (they satisfy all of your college pizza cravings).

Hope you enjoy.

Until next time,

Madison Rodick

p.s. Mizzou-Rah!